Blog // Archive //Editor Josephson - 20/21 - Josephson Opticians

New York socialite Peggy Guggenheim was instrumental in the promotion of International Modernism. Within a decade she amassed an impressive collection of Surrealist, Kinetic and Abstract Expressionist art. Her circle of influence included the likes of Man Ray, Alexander Calder and Marcel Duchamp. In 1949 the whole kit and caboodle was relocated to the city of Venice.

Peggy throws a party at the Palazzo Venier dei Leoni on the Grand Canal

Peggy may have gotten a charge out of these pieces of contemporary eyerwear which evoke some of the irrevrence and whimsy associated with her own personal style and tastes. They are produced by Anne et Valentin, Face a Face and Alain Mikli.

Allen Ginsberg was a seminal figure of the literary renaissance of 1950’s America. The style of dress he and other reputed ‘bohenian hedonists’ of the Beat Generation adopted likely had less to do with choice and more to do with making due with what was on hand.

The iconic eyewear of that era is popular again. Contemparry versions of the classics are masterfully crafted by Sama, Chrome Hearts and Linda Farrow.

Allen Ginsberg

A film adaptation of of the 1951 novel On The Road by Jack Kerouac will screen this September at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Morrissey charmed the despondent youth of the 1980’s. The mordant humour of his lyrics for songs by the Smiths made light of unrequited love and alienation.

If you emulated Morrissey’s style then, you can recreate the awkward appearance of your adolescence, now, with the assistance of COPPE SID Cosmopolitan Eyewear. Agonize over which shape may suite you best, then write a love letter you’ll never send and cry yourself to sleep.

The Thin White Duke is pictured above in a frame that’s lean. To varying degrees, the styles shown below also support the adage ‘less is more’. They are designed by Willems Wonderglasses, Robert Marc and Phillip Lim.

“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed.”
― Albert Einstein

Canadian auteur David Cronenberg is a valued and loyal client. One of his more recent purchases was of a frame by Berlin based Mykita. The ‘Hans’ is elegant by virtue of it’s austerity. It is in this regard that the frame so aptly reflects the director’s own style.